A bill to effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4618 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4618 To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 21, 2026 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Mr. Coons, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Nearly one in 5 children ages 13 through 17 has been diagnosed with a mental, emotional, or behavioral health condition. (2) According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2021 through 2023, 20 percent of adolescents in the United States ages 12 through 17 reported symptoms of anxiety in the preceding 2 weeks and 18 percent reported symptoms of depression in the preceding 2 weeks. (3) 50 percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14. More than 50 percent of students with a mental health condition age 14 and older drop out of school, which is the highest school dropout rate of any disability group. (4) Between 50 and 70 percent of you